I had a really rough start to Breastfeeding with my first baby. Some of it was physical, as DH puts it, my boobs are too big and he is too little. He also had a really little chin, high palette, and some tight neck muscles. I'm due with my next baby and trying to get prepared so that it goes better this time. I had to EP for three months last time, and there is no way I can do that with a toddler to take care of!!! Any recommend reading or advise? Any moms with a better experience with second baby?

I recommend getting baby on the boob as soon as he is born. The more you have baby latched on the better. Make sure to not go home till you feel confident in nursing. Try several different holds. Football hold is a great one to practice and get used to now. It is a very easy way to feed a little baby with large breasts. Read up on laid back nursing (other thread on it) and try that too.

I did not have nursing issues till my 4th baby. You just never know. I felt like a pro and struggled the first 3 months with this little one. He had a lazy latch that made nursing very hard if not near impossible.

I struggled with my first as well. I just had my second 3 months ago and things are going smoothly (aside from little struggles). I educated myself by talking to friends, using the LC at the pediatrician's office, asking for help in the hospital at the sign of the slightest struggle, and asking my family to be supportive. We do not keep formula at the house at all.

After I had my DD, I asked DH to help out a lot around the house and with our 5 year old so I could focus on nursing on demand (which was every hour to every half hour in the first 3 weeks!).

I also stocked up on Lanolin cream (really helped!), and pumped when needed to keep up my supply after 3 weeks, and to get ready for work at 6 weeks.

I was terrified of nursing my second(I ep'd 4yrs with my first), so I wanted to be super prepared!
I made a list that I brought to the hospital of several different IBCLCs, one that I had met a couple of times during pregnancy. I also had a list of the local LLL leaders numbers.

I bought a sns "for emergency" and had pumped colostrum frozen during the last few weeks of pregnancy. I never had to use any of this!

I brought a nursing pillow to the hospital with me.

I also insisted many, many, many times that I nurse my baby as soon as actually possible. I was soo happy, that despite an emergency c/s due to fever, I was still able to nurse in recovery! This made the difference to me.

No pacifiers/bottles, I did have pain and a silly baby that did not want to open enough when latching that led to even worse pain..but I persisted with amazing help from lll and we got it worked out.

Just tell yourself you can do it! I am so grateful for the beautiful nursing relationship I have with my 19mo. I would not trade it for anything.

I had a really difficult experience with DD1. She also had a high palette which made her lose the latch constantly. She had a slight tongue tie which we fixed at 4 months. She had reflux, so she had to nurse upright. She got tubes put in because the ear infections were constant. Because of all of these issues at the beginning, my supply dropped and I had to work hard to keep it up. We made it and had a beautiful nursing relationship, but it was hard.

With DD2 our nursing relationship has been blissful! It's like night and day! I'm a better breastfeeding mom because I know much more now. And, I'm a better advocate for myself. I was ADAMANT about nursing on demand after she was born and I refused any formula they tried to offer me. Besides me, my second daughter was just the perfect little nursling. She was born with a fantastic, strong latch. I also was more diligent about pumping in the beginning to establish a strong supply.

It's so strange how the experiences can be so different with the same woman.

Sometimes I think I could have done better with my first if I had the right resources and support and felt more confident. Sometimes I doubt that anything was really wrong, or if it was just in my head. Ahh, I dunno.

Have faith, mama. Not all nursing relationships are the same. I hope my experiences give you hope!

No second baby yet but, you said you had difficult time at first but you still did it with all those problems. Don't worry you can do it again. Nurse as soon as your baby arrived so her sucking/latching reflex would be use already..my nursing teacher told us before that when it is not done less than an hour after giving birth it my disappear or Mommies my need to teach their babies how to suck/latch. But if done early it would be easier.

I don't really have any advice. The pp have sounded great. I just want to pop in and say I had a horrible time nursing my 1st (supply issues, lack of support, and depression). But when my 2nd came we had a much better time nursing.